Sanitary Sewer Smoke Testing

The Chagrin Falls Utility Department is currently conducting smoke tests of our sanitary sewer lines to identify areas with prohibited direct connection to the sanitary sewer lines or that are being infiltrated with storm water. Our team is able to locate infiltration or connection points by putting smoke into our sewer lines and observing where the smoke is visible coming from the ground. Once located, we will develop a plan for repairing damaged sections or disconnecting the prohibited connections.

This project is vital to both taxpayers and water customers as we begin to prepare plans for renewal of our EPA discharge permit. By reducing or eliminating infiltration of rainwater into our sanitary sewers, we can minimize or eliminate the need for additional and expensive holding tanks. The EPA statutes require that we do not have any untreated releases into the Chagrin River, something that happens infrequently and only at times of very heavy rain fall. The storm water infiltration into the system creates temporary volume surges that exceed the plants ability to treat.